A Glance at Ag #7

APRIL 14, 2020

Here are some resources I’ve found recently to help us digest what’s going on in the agriculture industry. Consider each resource as “food for thought” in our own journeys of understanding food, and let’s ask questions to allow us to continually learn and grow.

Food Supply & COVID-19

Article: Why Perishable Food Products Aren’t Easily Rerouted

My social media has been filled with posts about both dairy farmers dumping milk and grocery stores limiting milk purchases. Simply put, the dairy supply chain has been totally disrupted in a large way and getting fluid milk (that historically has been sold to go to cheese, butter, or other products) to grocery stores is not an easy task. This piece by John Phipps on Farm Journal’s AgWeb describes a challenging concept in a comprehensible way. If you’re confused about why we have an “abundance” of food, but seem to also have a “shortage,” then check this short piece out.

Article: Six Possible Impacts of COVID-19 on Farming

Successful Farming outlines the potential challenges to come from the coronavirus pandemic. This was posted in mid-March, and some of these impacts described have already started to come true. It’s a succinct post that is broad enough to help you grasp how greatly our food supply will be affected by the shutdowns, supply chain disruptions, and community changes.

Video: COVID-19 and the Dairy Industry

This video by Cow Comfort Inn in Maryland shows in a creative way why it’s nearly impossible to shift the dairy industry’s milk supply to a fully fluid-milk system in the short time that we’ve needed to in the wake of COVID-19. It combines the economics, processing, transportation, and other supply chain factors in a simple way. Check it out on Facebook.

 

General Agriculture & Food

Interview: Why We Fear the Food We Eat with Jack Bobo, Futurity

Jack Bobo is one of my favorite “foodies” and is a self-described “Food Futurist” as he works diligently in this space, looking at what the food industry could be down the road. He brings up some interesting points in here about plant-based foods (and their longevity) and our fear behind food.

Since this is relatively high-level on some food concepts (that applies to everyone), you can read a deeper piece by Jack on his own website about the reasons why we fear the food we eat here. Definitely worth the read if you ever question what to buy at the store or you’re curious about food in any way!

Article: What I’ve Learned about Mental Health in Agriculture

Mental health in agriculture has been a conversation that was once hidden and is now coming up to surface much more. This is a heartfelt, short piece in Hoard’s Dairyman by Jessica Peters that explains her recent project and movement in bringing light to mental health in agriculture.

 

If you have any thoughts on the above links, or if you find any helpful or insightful resources in your internet searching, please send them to me on social media (below) or on my contact page.

Thanks for reading!